ZERO! the umbrella academy

cinquante-six

JFK

I STEPPED INTO THE elevator again, but this time I was all alone.

The elevator started to quake as it rose higher. I braced myself against the walls. I thought perhaps it had been some sort of earthquake that caused the box to shake.

It stopped at the top floor, and the doors slid open. I was hit with the same waves of energy. I saw the same long hallway, the same walls covered in blood, the same dead FBI agents.

I tried to fight against the waves as I walked down the hall. I tried to freeze time, but it was no use. I couldn't stop it, not even slow it a little bit. The rhythmic pulses felt like they were eating away at me, ripping my cells apart and burning me the closer I got.

"Vanya!" I shouted at the white light brighter than the sun and the stars streaming from the room at the end of the hall. "Vanya, it's me! Your sister!"

After disappearing, I was finally able to track her down to this government facility, but it seemed like I was too late.

I held my arms out in front of me, partially to shield my eyes from the light and partially to push back against the waves. The light seemed to be expanding, growing brighter and brighter. My skin felt like it was on fire.

I let out an ear-piercing shriek. Suddenly, the light exploded, consuming me in its entirety, and I could feel myself fading away as my vision went white.

—

MY EYES SHOT OPEN.

I abruptly sat up, gasping and sputtering for air. I felt hands on me, but I had to pat myself down to make sure I was there as well in one piece. My whole body was aching and sore, like I had gotten hit head-on by a car.

I blinked at the faces around me. Diego, Allison, Klaus, and Vanya were all huddled around me, staring at me with concern in their eyes. I had a feeling like I had missed out on something.

"Lee." Diego knelt beside me, one hand on my back supporting me. "Lee, can you hear me? Are you okay?"

"I had the strangest dream," I murmured, clutching my throbbing head. I almost felt hungover. "It felt so real."

I thought back to walking down that hallway all alone, no Diego or Klaus or Allison in sight. Could it have just been a weird case of déjà vu?

They were still staring at me like I had spontaneously grown another head without warning. Maybe I had; anything seemed possible nowadays. "What?"

Diego's brown eyes bored into mine. "We thought you died."

The blood drained from my face. I had died in my dream, I was sure of it. It felt like another life I had lived. I imagined someone finding my body, two empty voids where my eyes should've been, if I had a body for someone to find at all. I suppressed a shiver.